NCT01799408

Intra-articular Betamethasone and the Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal Axis

The Effect of Intra-articular Injection of Betamethasone Acetate/Betamethasone Sodium Phosphate at the Knee Joint on the Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal Axis: a Case Controlled Study

• Status: Completed
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 40 (actual)
• Sponsor: The Nazareth Hospital, Israel · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

To evaluate the effect of intra-articular corticosteroid injection (IACI) of depot preparation of betamethasone on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee

Detailed description

Consecutive patients attending the rheumatology or orthopedic clinic with osteoarthritic knee pain, not responding satisfactorily to medical or physical therapy were allocated to group-1 after consent and given IACI of 6 mg of betamethasone acetate/betamethasone sodium phosphate. Following completion of this part, consecutive age- and sex-matched patients were allocated to group-2 and given intra-articular injection of 60 mg of sodium hyaluronate. Just prior to the knee injection and 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8 weeks later, patients had 1 µg adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH) stimulation test. Secondary adrenal insufficiency (SAI) was defined as levels of less than 18 ng/ml or a rise of \< than 7 ng/ml of serum cortisol, 30 minutes following the ACTH stimulation test.

Conditions

• Adrenal Suppression

Timeline

• Start date: 2012-10-01
• Primary completion: 2013-02-01
• Completion: 2013-02-01
• First posted: 2013-02-26
• Last updated: 2013-02-26